The Hollywood Reporter's List of the 25 Top Drama Schools

By
Tim Appelo
| Posted May 4, 2012, 10:58 a.m.

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"I look at the school, and anyone who tells you they don't is lying to you," says producer Todd Black, who helped cast the Meryl Streep film Hope Springs. "I'm gonna look much faster at a kid from a top school than from the University of Southern North Dakota." To find out which schools give the most bang for the buck, The Hollywood Reporter polled Casting Society of America members and theater insiders. Some schools were chosen for their illustrious alumni or curriculum, but the bottom line is, these 25 schools offer the entree it takes to get a job. As Felicity Huffman has said of the "Tisch mafia" at her alma mater, NYU, "Without them, it is very possible I wouldn't be a working actress today."

ACT | San Francisco

The big draw for MFA students at American Conservatory Theater is the same thing that has drawn 7 million audience members to the Tony-winning theater's shows: a resident company of top-notch professional actors. It is part of those actors' job to mentor and network for the MFA students. In turn, MFA students mentor kids in the Young Conservatory program (YC alumni include Darren Criss, Winona Ryder and Nicolas Cage). Students also audition for real-world ACT productions -- and get cast.

"It is a sacred place," says Actors Studio Drama School alum Bradley Cooper. Where else could he have gotten an MFA where curriculum and faculty are chosen by Actors Studio Drama School presidents Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel and Ellen Burstyn? Students sharpen their gifts with the Stanislavski Method and get into founder James Lipton's celebrated seminars. The school is immortalized in a recent conversation on Fox's Glee between Finn (Cory Monteith) and Rachel (Lea Michele). Finn: "What was that acting school on Bravo with the swear words and the cool dude that you made me watch?" Rachel: "James Lipton." Finn: "Yeah. … I want to go to Inside the Actors Studio." Rachel: "It's just 'The Actors Studio,' but that's great!" Casting directors agree.

Notable Alumni: Chris Stack, Xanthe Elbrick

CALARTS | Valencia, Calif.

Travis Preston, dean of the California Institute of the Arts School of Theater, calls CalArts "the hub of a vast network of artistic and professional relationships that traverses the globe." Students get to work with the likes of the Wooster Group, Andre Gregory, Magnetic Fields composer Stephin Merritt and avant-garde dramatist Richard Foreman.

The most creative time in Zachary Quinto's life wasn't playing Spock; it was learning the trade at Carnegie Mellon University. "It was a four-year playground," he says. Adds alumna Holly Hunter: "I loved to be able to take a script apart in purely technical terms to learn about a character using this very pragmatic tool. That's where I learned it." CMU grads have won six Oscars and 96 Emmys.

DePaul University benefits from being in what some consider the nation's second-best theater town. The 6-to-1 student-faculty ratio helps, too. "There's something in the water in Chicago," says producer Laurence Mark. "It's a great place for actors, and so is DePaul."

Why go to Sarasota to study theater? All 12 of the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory MFA candidates get a full tuition waiver from Florida State University, an assistantship to defray living expenses, a year's study in London, experience at the Asolo Theater and Equity actor's union eligibility.

Notable Alumni: Paul Reubens

GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC & DRAMA | London

In addition to living in one of the world's great theater cities, Guildhall actors rub shoulders with up-and-coming musicians (Jacqueline du Pre, James Galway). "Guildhall gives a broad training -- it's not prescriptive," says alumnus Dominic West. "We're able to be versatile." Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery says, "Getting in was like winning the lottery."

"Regardless of how painful, how challenging, how terrific, how confusing it is," says alumna Laura Linney, "this school will prepare you for just about anything." A major theater director says, "In language skill and script analysis, no other grads are as prepared. Juilliard actors somehow are more marketable -- the first-round draft picks."

For the 4 percent of applicants who pass their audition for a spot at NIDA, the odds of stardom soar. "I mean, I loved NIDA and hated it," Mel Gibson says in a documentary about the school. "At times, it was very frustrating and hard and depressing and all this kind of stuff, but if you were prepared to stick with it, the rewards were really good."

Northwestern's vaunted undergraduate drama program puts acting in a liberal-arts context. In 2011's commencement address, alumnus Stephen Colbert said: "I loved being a theater major. It gave me an excuse to brood, to grow a beard, to wear black at people. I didn't want to play Hamlet, I wanted to be Hamlet."

New York University's BFA and MFA programs would be great anywhere -- but because they're in New York, NYU can give its students an inside track to the big time. "When Mike Nichols revives Death of a Salesman, NYU probably knows very early and knows who's casting," says one producer. "NYU actors are incredibly intelligent," adds a regional theater director. "And my favorite physical actors are NYU MFAs. The clowning curriculum is unbeatable."

Founded in 1904, RADA radiates a royal reputation. Some classes involve one teacher and three students. The Beatles are famous because their RADA-trained manager, Brian Epstein, taught them to be dramatic. RADA can put talented nobodies on the radar.

The acting BFA program at Rutgers University accepts 9 percent of applicants, who spend their third year at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Both BFAs and MFAs do annual showcase performances in New York.

The Conservatory of Theatre Arts BFA acting program at SUNY's Purchase College is run by Gregory Taylor, an eminent film scholar.

Notable Alumni: Edie Falco, Parker Posey, Stanley Tucci

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY | Syracuse, N.Y.

In 1978, says Syracuse drama professor Gerardine Clark, the BFA program attracted 250 applicants. "Now we get 900 a year. Our grads are noted for being sui generis." Aaron Sorkin started as Clark's musical-theater student. The key to the program: student access to the Syracuse Stage, a theater enticing 90,000 playgoers a year.

Notable Alumni: Frank Langella, Taye Diggs

UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE | Newark, Del.

Students of Delaware's Professional Theatre Training Program get tuition waivers and a $16,500 stipend. "It has only one class of students at a time, and each gets full attention," says its director, Sanford Robbins.

Notable Alumni: Tom Hewitt, Linda Balgord

UCLA | Los Angeles

UCLA BA and BFA drama students benefit by being at a red-hot center of the study of film, TV, animation and digital media and close to Hollywood. "The opportunity to attend performances on a world-class level presented by UCLA Live [now known as the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA], Royce Hall, the Geffen Playhouse and the Film and Television Archive provides a context that is exhilarating for the study of theater," says theater department chair Michael Hackett.

Notable Alumni: Tim Robbins, Eric Roth, Nicolas Cage, Jack Black

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS | Winston-Salem, N.C.

Ex-New York Shakespeare Festival artistic director Gerald Freedman has created an undergrad drama program where students get guest instruction from the likes of Sam Waterston, Patrick Wilson and UNC alums Mary-Louise Parker and Chris Parnell.

Notable Alumni: Joe Mantello, Tom Hulce

UC SAN DIEGO | San Diego

Home to the Tony-winning La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego is a launchpad into the real world. "UCSD actors are the best auditioners," says Seattle Repertory Theater artistic theater director Jerry Manning.

Notable Alumni: Danny Burstein, James Avery

USC SCHOOL OF DRAMATIC ARTS | Los Angeles

"USC is in Hollywood's front yard," says alumnus Todd Black. "Its acting students know they have to make a living, so they're trained in TV, feature films, Internet work." Adds board member Laurence Mark, "USC gives you the skills and confidence to be bold and take informed risks."

UT acting students get a boost from Austin's famous film festival and independent film scene.

Notable Alumni: Marcia Gay Harden

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON | Seattle

Half of Washington's Professional Actors program students find work within a year of graduation (e.g., Kyle MacLachlan and his first movie, Dune), and half are still performing 10 years after graduation.

Notable Alumni: Jean Smart, Joel McHale, Pamela Reed, Rainn Wilson

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS | Perth, Western Australia

Actors put on 300 performances a year at WAAPA, and the experience pays off. "I am totally indebted to WAAPA for [my] career," says alum Hugh Jackman. "There is a genuine camaraderie. Acting is not a solo sport."

Notable Alumni: Frances O'Connor

YALE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DRAMA | New Haven, Conn.

Generally considered the most prestigious U.S. drama school, founded in 1924, it was dissed by one source as "posh and uncommercial." Retorts Dean James Bundy, "The best advertisement for Yale School of Drama is the breadth of its graduates' distinguished achievement in every theatrical discipline." Also, grad Sigourney Weaver's films have grossed more than $5 billion worldwide. For art or commerce, no MFA is quite the calling card that Yale's is.